I attended a unique choir school for 5th-8th grade and performed with the choir in the US and on international tours to Japan and Bermuda. Also sang with the NY Philarmonic, Boston Symphony, etc. and was on several recordings. Will colleges like this?

Safety: Rutgers, University of Toronto (have family in canada), Steven's Tech (legacy)

I'm hoping my EC's (music) and volunteer work will help get me into my schools. I like Rice alot but UPenn is my dream school. Are there any schools I should consider? Any suggestions are welcome, thanks.

Your most likely in at Chicago and Carnegie, obviously your safeties, if you apply ed to penn, i think you'll get in, and if you can get into chicago you'll most likely get into cornell, which i think you'll do

i think you have a pretty good list, you should just leave it at that.

You are in the running is all I can say. You may want to check with your counselor about where kids with your transcript generally go to school as it will be a good gauge as to where you stand. Though your school may not rank, the colleges will estimate and they can come pretty close--top 25% is usually not good enough for the top schools unless your school is one of few "elite" highschools in the country--that is why you need the infor from your counselor. If only the top 1-5 kids in your class are getting into your reach choices, you are not going to look so good.

You do have a good spread of choices and there is nothing wrong with a few lottery ticket schools as they are dicey for everyone. Your stats and profile from the post do put you in the running.

Duke is not a match for you, it's a reach. But I don't see you getting into many of your reach schools; Yale, Penn (you're doing Wharton, right?), and Duke will be hard for you. And I have no idea what Liek is talking about, Chicago is not a safety for you, not for anyone. How many total hours of community service do you have? Your scores are ok, but nothing that is going to wow your top schools. Yes, your singing is good, but your grades are low. How many people are in your class? Top 25% isn't exactly a convincing number. If you send in a tape of your singing (solo) or visit with the chorus director(s) at your top choice(s) that will help you a lot (if you're really good). Wharton is a very hard school to get into. I'd give you a 7.25/10 for that school.

I goto Rice...so I guess I should chip in my 2 cents. First overall, I dont know how anyone could like UPENN over Rice - the campus at rice is so much nicer, and smaller! (obviously I have no bias ;) )

Being out of state will really help you at Rice, however, as with any top university you are going to have tough competition. Your SAT I would probably put you in around the 65th percentile. Your SAT II's look fine also - I'd guess 50th percentile. However your GPA doesnt seem to lag your other stats. Rice (from what i'm told) likes to look beyond 'numbers' which could be really good considering your EC's.

The number of applicants seems to get higher every year at Rice, and thus if you really want hedge your chances, I'd apply early. But then you are locked in and might not get good financial aid....

I've personally known people w/ better stats and worse stats get rejected (and accepted)! So overall I think you have as good of a shot as anyone else..just make sure you spend a lot of time and effort on all your applications. And Best of Luck! And as always, this is all my opinion, you can decide whether or not to heed it!